29: The motivation doesn't matter, imho. You believe it was a way to 'galvance the German people', many others believe that the Nazis sincerely believed in Aryan supremacy. It's complicated; there are many books about it; and it's not worth arguing here. But what does it matter? You can't separate out their battle plans from their genocide plans, since they were intimately connected: conquer a country, kill the Jews living there.
About the Nazi descendent issue, of course, I can't know that. I was guessing at a possibility which would be particularly grotesque, but anything's possible. We do know from the listing that it belonged to somebody's grandfather who lives/lived in Germany. Chances are as good as not that the machine belonged to this person who used it during WWII.
26: You are saying that the Nazi plans to conquer various countries are separate from their plans to murder various groups? The Nazi sequence of actions was (1) to conquer a country followed immediately by (2) to ship people (from the various targetted groups) from that country to concentration camps so that they could be murdered. So helping them with their "battle plans" was exactly the same thing as participating in genocide.
25: No, the point is that _if_ this machine was used _during WWII for sending Nazi battle plans_ then it is Nazi memorabilia. If it had been produced after the war, then it would not be.
"Does it really matter if it was German/Nazi or not? Really does it matter?"
Yeah, it does matter. If _this particular machine_ (not the idea of the Enigma, or the Enigma in general, or something made before the war, or after it) was produced and used as part of the war effort towards genocide, then the grandchild of the person who used it shouldn't be making $16,000 off of it. It should be donated to a museum.
A VW Bug produced in the middle of WWII for the express purpose of being used in the Nazi war effort would be a Nazi car, yes. Just like a code-breaking machine produced in the middle of WWII for the express purpose of being used in the Nazi war effort would be a piece of Nazi equipment. There's a fundamental difference between a piece of physical equipment produced and used in the war effort, then something produced in the 21st century from a company that was once related to Hitler!
I still don't get this, can you explain? This particular machine was made in 1941 for German use in WWII. How can I interpet this as something other than the grandchild of a Nazi making money of a tool that was used in that war?
Richard, obviously not everything German has anything to do with the Nazis, but _this_ Engima machine, according to the ebay listing, was made in 1941, and used in WWII. You really think it wasn't a Nazi tool?
These kinds of devices already exist--lots of people with disabilities impairing their ability to speak use them. They are very expensive, and this price is par for the course. This is a communication tool for, say, a person with severe cerebral palsy, who already has a $25K wheelchair, round-the-clock nursing care, etc. It is expensive to have a disability.
These devices need to be rock-stable, and very quick. They need to work perfectly if rain is pouring on them. They need to work even though users have poor motor control and might be banging, hard, on the buttons day after day after day. They need to last for years. (This is a person's voice, after all, and it can take a very long time to learn to use it well, for children especially).
For the user who made the comment about "I'm not going to buy this for my kid, I only spend $10 times their age for Christmas gifts!" or whatever ... this is not a toy! This is not for some kid to play around with and then throw away! This is someone's _voice_. How much is YOUR voice worth to you?
"I'm in the market for a new laptop, and I want a 13-incher. I need something with a great keyboard for typing, as this will mostly be used for note taking in class. I am absolutely smitten with the XPS 13, but I'm afraid that with its age Dell is going to give it an update soon. Any advice for someone in my shoes?"
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About the Nazi descendent issue, of course, I can't know that. I was guessing at a possibility which would be particularly grotesque, but anything's possible. We do know from the listing that it belonged to somebody's grandfather who lives/lived in Germany. Chances are as good as not that the machine belonged to this person who used it during WWII.